


Double Blind

by frey



Category: 30 Rock
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-09
Updated: 2013-06-09
Packaged: 2017-12-14 11:17:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/836301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frey/pseuds/frey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Surely <i>someone</i> will fix the mouth-crying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Double Blind

**Title:** Double Blind  
 **Author:** [](http://frey-at-last.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://frey-at-last.livejournal.com/)**frey_at_last**  
 **Tags:** 30 Rock, Jack/Liz friendship  
 **Spoilers:** "Dealbreakers Talk Show"  


 

 

The first thing Jack did upon leaving Liz's office was get Leo Spaceman on the phone.

"Leo, I don't know what your machine did to Lemon, but it's got to be fixed. You rearranged her tear ducts!"

"Wait a minute, who is this? Jack?"

"Of course it is!"

" _Ohhh_ , and you mean _Liz_ Lemon!"

"Who else would I be referring to? Leo, how many of these surgeries do you _do_ on a weekly basis?" The elevator dinged and Jack stepped in, jabbing at the button for 52 rather too forcefully.

"Oh, never mind! I suppose we could run a reversal in a few minutes. Why don't you send her over sometime between two and four tonight?"

"This morning?" Jack sputtered. It was already nearing dusk.

"Alrighty! See you then! Oh, and you might want to come along, or send a chaperon. There's a _slight_ possibility she may end up blind. These machines are so fancy, and I can't always be the one reading operation manuals!" Leo chuckled as he hung up.

"Damn," muttered Jack. The elevator took him steadily upward and further away from studio 6H. He sighed and punched in Liz's speed dial.

 

 

 

Jack arrived at Liz's door at just past three in the morning and tried to knock quietly. He had no desire to awaken that Middle Eastern neighbor and face an early morning northrax attack. But no one stirred, and a few moments later she opened the door, her hair even choppier when fresh from her pillow. She gave him a tired smile.

"Hi," said Jack.

"Hi," she said. She hesitated, leaning on the doorknob. "Jack, are you really sure you want to do this? It's really freakin' early."

"And I am already up, and drove thirty minutes to your building, in the rain."

Liz winced. "Yeah, sorry."

"I just mean that it's too late to change my mind, Lemon." Reaching for her shoulder to guide her into the hallway, he deliberately softened his tone. "And it's my fault you ended up in this condition, so don't apologize. Here--" He pulled a handkerchief from his jacket pocket. "For your mouth."

"Aw, Jack, this is embroidered with your initials!" She looked up at him gratefully, and he jingled his keys in his pocket as they started down the hallway, pleased despite himself.

"You can keep it - I have a few dozen."

 

 

 

This office was not exactly the most sanitary place he'd seen surgeries performed. When they arrived, he'd watched Leo remove what he thought was a used condom from the operating chair, and he hoped Liz had been looking elsewhere. They'd gone over again the risks involved in the procedure - Liz's expression became grimmer and grimmer, and she nearly tore his handkerchief, wringing it in her hands.

"Surely you've done this before," Jack interjected, in an attempt to offer reassurance, but, with Leo, these things tended to backfire.

"Not on a _living_ person," Leo mused. "And not on an _eye_."

So, perhaps this was not the most surefire plan, but Leo did have his moments of inspiration.

Jack sat on a plastic chair outside the door and did his best to overhear what was going on inside.

"Miss Lemon, would you remind me why you underwent this procedure to begin with? I can't seem to remember _anything_ I've done over the past two days! Ha, I'd be a little more concerned if I'd woken up covered in human blood, and not just chicken feathers."

"We thought I might do better onscreen without my glasses," came Liz's voice, a little muffled. "Woah, do I really sit on the chair backwards?"

"It's a reversal of the procedure, Liz. And you prefer not wearing your glasses on camera?"

Jack couldn't hear Liz's answer, but he propped his chin on his hand and listened to the whine of the Lasig machine. It must have been the early hour that made him think of Liz barricaded in her dressing room, berating herself in the mirror, saying - awful things. He'd seen her before at her breaking point, but rarely by his own doing. In that moment, he'd been willing to take the profit cuts and Banks' blackmail and the sting of failure, if it was a choice between that and... well.

He seemed too tired for a pep talk, so he rested his eyes and simply believed that Liz would be fine.

 

 

 

And she was. They walked out of the building fifteen minutes later, and he did not have to lead her by the elbow or cash in his connections at Guiding Eyes For the Blind (a not-for-profit division of GE's KitchenAll of Colorado). Even more satisfyingly, Liz was so relieved the surgery was successful that when they reached his car, her eyes glistened distinctly.

Jack opened the passenger door and ushered her in. "I'm not normally so happy to see you cry, Lemon, but in this case I certainly must make an exception."

Liz laughed, sniffing, as he crossed around and climbed behind the wheel. "I'm happy to be crying, too," she said. "Yack, that guy could have _zapped_ me! I'd have to learn to write sketches in _Braille_! But, at least I'm back to normal - for whatever that's worth."

Hesitating, Jack rested his hand on the ignition. "It's worth a great deal, I think."

She looked over at him uncertainly. He was momentarily regretful that his attempts to boost her confidence that day (or yesterday? the sun was not yet up) had shaken her confidence in his honesty. Perhaps in rating her higher than Oprah, he had gone too far. He took a breath. "Lemon, I'm sorry. I wanted this opportunity for you because I thought it would make things easier, and give you... more choices. I did not expect it would be so stressful and discouraging."

"No, Jack. No, it was, uh, a way bigger chance than I've ever gotten before to make it big, and I'm really grateful. That you would offer that to me is just..." She trailed off for a moment. "I mean, it's not your fault. I don't think I'm cut out for it, after all. I am who I am, and I'm okay with that."

She looked down at her lap, but met his eyes with a smile when he turned toward her. Truly, her hair was ridiculous, but there was something there in her face that tugged at something in his chest. Star quality - he, personally, had no doubts.

"Well, I'm glad to assist you. But I understand if you would rather put it off until another day. I'm not sure the writers would have survived long without you, anyway." Jack started the car and shifted into gear.

"Ha! That's for real." Liz slumped sideways against the car door, getting comfortable. "My acting self might be a hysterical maniac, but at least my normal self is good for something."

"Mmm," Jack agreed. The wipers swished in the pre-dawn drizzle as they headed home.


End file.
